Appeal No. 1999-2371 Page 3
Application No. 08/909,834
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to the
appellant's specification and claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the
respective positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner. As a consequence of
our review, we make the determinations which follow.
The appellant’s invention is directed to a push-on, pull-off system for securing a
decorative speaker grille to apertures in a cabinet. As manifested in independent claim 8,
the inventive system comprises a plurality of receptacles in the grille and a plurality of
fasteners, each fastener having a head with outwardly flared resilient wings for
engagement with a receptacle and a tree-like base for securing the fastener in the
apertures,
said head of each said fastener and each said receptacle being
dimensioned such that a first pushing force is required for engagement and
a second, larger, pulling force is required for disengagement.
The examiner is of the view that Hiraki shows all of the structure recited in claim 8 except
for the claimed fasteners, the push-on, push-off structure is disclosed by Notoya and the
tree structure by Raymond, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
to modify the Hiraki fastener to meet the terms of the claim. The appellant points out in
rebuttal that while the Notoya fastener is pushed on, it is not pulled off, for it must be rotated
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